Sleeps With Dogs
I have a question to pose to y’all today. In its simplest form… do you let your dog(s) sleep in the bed with you? Before you answer, let me give you background.
When I was a kid, our family dog was primarily an outdoor dog. She slept in the garage with a dog bed, and when it was especially cold outside my parents let her sleep in my house. On those rare nights, she slept at the foot of my bed and I thought it was the best thing ever!
Of course my own dogs now aren’t outside dogs at all, and they are always sleeping in the house with us. We alternate between having Eliot free in our room (which means he ends up on the bed some during the night), Pascale in the bed all night with Eliot some and Pascale & BT sleeping in the bed all night. Basically, at some point during the night every night there’s at least one dog in my bed.
Me? I love it. I like feeling them close to me and hearing their little dog snores. There are also lots of things I don’t like though. I don’t like having mud and dog hair in my bed, being woken up by a dog kicking me or the fact that I have several creatures between me and my husband.
As dog lovers, both my husband and I struggle with this love/hate relationship of having our fur babies in bed. Logically, I know it’s really not mean to have them sleep on the floor or in a crate. They are fed and housed and loved and given vet care… these dogs have it good! Still, pleading eyes are effective.
While I waffle on what to do with this doggie conundrum, I’m curious where your four legged fur friends spend their evenings!
57 thoughts on “Sleeps With Dogs”
Well, I don’t have dogs but I do have 2 house bunnies. And if they would, I would totally let them sleep on the bed with me. Granted, I would be terrified that I would roll over on them in the middle of the night and crush them, but I would love to have them on the bed. They just aren’t snuggly beings.
P.S. LOVE your blog! I’m so glad I found it!
House bunnies!?! That is too cute for words. I want that in my life!
They aren’t very cuddly, kind of like 4 pound cats, but they like to get their pets and they are hilarious and I love them. They do jump on the bed from time to time, but it’s usually only when it’s 5 am and they think I should have been up hours ago to feed them. Starts with whiskers in the face, then zooming laps around me on the bed, then the grand finale is jumping on my face.
I go back and forth. WHen my husband is not in town, I normally let my bullmastiff sleep on the bed. But as she’s gotten older, she snores LOUDLY so I usually let her stay in her spot on the couch. My mini Aussie drives me NUTS at night and can not sleep in the bed. Before she died, my Samoyed slept on or beside my bed for 16 years with zero issue. So to a degree, I think it depends on the dog.
My springer is not a problem, so I agree. When husband is gone both dogs are fine, but with him and two there just isn’t enough room.
We have two-a 75 lb fox hound and a 140 lb great dane. The fox hound, Ariel, frequently sneaks into the bed at night, which generally isn’t a huge deal, HOWEVER our dane isn’t as welcome purely due to the percentage of bed he occupies. My husband works night shift, so I’m in bed alone, and I don’t mind one or both of them when he’s not home, but sometimes it is hard for him to convince them to stay in their beds on the floor once he gets in bed. haha. I hate the hair on the bed, but have learned to keep a fleece blanket over the top half of the bed/my pillow so that I can keep the dog hair away from my face. I don’t mind it on the lower half of the bed. haha.
My dog sleeps in the bed every night, unless we’re in a really small bed (traveling), though she usually weasels her way in then too. However, my boyfriend is already a huge pain to sleep with (6’2″ men just take up too much of the bed!!) and if we get a second dog I know that reasonably, that dog won’t fit in the bed, and then it won’t be fair to have just one up there… so I refuse to get a second dog (and got a kitten instead!). I love to snuggle and be warm, and my dog is the world’s best little spoon, so it works out perfectly. If I got a second dog though, which is an eventuality, making them sleep on dog beds would be hard, but not impossible. And I would always cave if my boyfriend wasn’t home.
When we got Drake we thought he would top out at 100 pounds, so we started from the get go with a no furniture rule. Even now that he’s 80, I’m still glad he’s not allow on furniture. I already pull his hair off of all my clothing and I can’t imagine how bad it would be if he slept where I slept! Not to mention the husband thing 😉
Yeah, sometimes I wish we had started the no dogs on the furniture rule from the beginning!
When I was single, my two big dogs slept with me whenever they wanted. Now that I have hubby taking up space, our lab sleeps on the floor on her giant, fluffy bed. I never minded my dogs on the bed, but I do have to say its really nice now that the bed isn’t always full of hair.
Only Jello is allowed to sleep in bed with us. Since I got her in 2009 she’s always slept in the bed with me and when Milton and I started dating he said NO. Well…. Jello now sleeps in our bed and all the other dogs hang out on the couch and in the chairs (5 dogs in the bed with us would be to much!!). The only rule is Jello has to sleep on the outside so she’s not between us 🙂
Two huskies, one 60lb and one 40lb. Both start the night in bed. When my husband is gone (which is most of the time right now, yay medical school!), both sleep all night in the bed, In the winter they sleep right against me, in the summer not so much. They also sleep on top of the covers, which can sometimes cause and uncomfortable blanket arrangement issue. Luckily, I’ve trained them to get up and rearrange themselves as needed.
When the husband is home, usually only the little white dog stays on the bed all night. She’s very adamant about sleeping up there. The black one gets easily annoyed by getting too warm, or getting kicked by my husband, and jumps down to sleep on the floor. Most of the time both dogs sleep in tiny little dog circles, which helps conserve the bed space.
I keep white sheets and duvets on my bed, because it’s easier to see the moment they need washed, and easier to keep bright and clean (contrary to initial thought!). The dogs don’t track mud in the bed, partly because we do not have a yard for them to just go out and romp around in. They go on structured walks, and get toweled off instead. They do bring a whole ton of hair to bed, though. I purchased a big wooly throw for the bed for the dogs to sleep on, and it works well to capture most of their hair. I wash it regularly (and separately!).
With huskies, hair management is really the most consuming thing!
I can’t stand letting the dogs sleep in the bed. Well, Lucky can’t get onto the bed because he’s too fat, but he is WAY too hairy, breathes super loudly, and I can’t even handle his stench (which persists through baths and grooming). Buttons has slept in the bed perhaps twice, and is marginally better because she’s small. But she inevitably wedges herself between Johnny and me and spends what feels like all night readjusting herself to get comfortable.
This is why I think I’m not a dog person- more power to y’all who let your dogs snooze with you!
That said, when Johnny’s out of town, I let the cats sleep on the bed. They don’t move as much and usually just stick to the foot of the bed.
Our elder Lab gets his own bed because he’s a pain to sleep with- always wants to snuggle super close next to you and ends up pushing you out of bed! Now we just cover the guest bed and “put him to bed” in there every night. He’s only allowed in the big bed if there’s something scary going on, like fireworks or thunder.
I don’t mind dogs/cats in bed with me. The dogs I prefer to keep more towards my feet though.
My cattle dog was allowed to sleep on the bed, by invite only and only at the foot of the bed. She would sometimes sneak up in the middle of the night but as long as she was sneaky enough to not wake me up I figured she deserved it.
My German shepherd had been kept on the floor by the other dogs at the breeders so he was uncomfortable in my bed. He would get up and snuggle while I read but as soon as the lights went off he got into his own bed.
My regular petsit had Scottish deerhounds and when I was there I usually had at least one dog and a cat in bed with me.
No dogs allowed on the bed for me! I am a light sleeper and wouldn’t sleep well with dogs on the bed. My dogs have their own oversized pet beds in my bedroom so they are more than spoiled!!!
When my husband isn’t home, Max sleeps in bed with me! He knows when daddy’s not there he’s allowed to sleep in the big bed. Max is an awesome snuggler and he’s only 30 lb, so easy to have with me in a Queen-size bed. I just wash the sheets after he sleeps with me. But when my husband is home, Max sleeps in his big puffy dog bed on the floor. Hubby has a lot of dust-induced allergies/asthma, so it’s best for him if dogs stay on the floor.
I am a firm no dogs in the bed kind of gal because I overheat really badly. Our German Shepherded, Guinness, doesn’t sleep on the bed. In fact, he also overheats and usually spends most of his nights in front of the sliding glass door. And then there’s Harley, our golden retriever. For the life of me, I can not get Harley to stay off the bed. So I’ve kind of given up, but my preference would be for her to sleep on one of the numerous wonderful dog beds we have sitting around the house. 🙂
In the past I’ve had dogs sleep in the bed with me, usually the dogs that I babysat that I have a close bond with. I haven’t owned my own dog but I think in the future I when I do it will not be in the bed with me. I really want my dog to be an outdoor dog.
No bed for my husky. He’s allowed on the couch right now, and I’m okay with that as it is covered. In the future when I have a bigger place, I hope to have a dog-designated couch. I’ve got friends who have done that and it works wonderfully. Beds though? Just no. Hair with the potential for fleas and ticks just irks me, no matter the pleading eyes! Haha
We have three, but only two sleep with us. My old man english setter comes and go as he pleases. When my husband is on shift, he sleeps in his spot. Our little dog sleeps under the covers, in between us, and that can be a pain because he actually pushes me away from my husband. They sometimes wake me up when they come and go. The little dog is a brat and when he wants under the covers, he barks at us… that is not pleasant! lol
No dogs on the bed for me. I lost the no dogs on furniture rule, but I am not giving up on the bed. The thought of mud, bugs, etc just irks me. Hubby pleaded that when I was out of town if the dog could come up on the bed, and I said fine, as long as he changed the sheets. Did it once, never again!
Cats are on the bed, but they are indoor only (and really sleep where you tell them; foot, curled up next you, between your legs, up top next to your pillow, wherever you want).
The dogs aren’t allowed to sleep with us for many reasons – most of them logistical. My cat has slept with me for 12 years, since before I met my husband so he gets a spot on the bed no matter what. Between him, my husband, and I, there just isn’t much room.
On top of that, the dogs move an awful lot and the border collie mix annoys the cats. So to make life easier, the dogs have their own bedroom and they get baby-gated into that room at night.
When one of us is away, all bets are off and whoever is home does what they feel like (I still lock the dogs up at night, husband sometimes lets them sleep with him).
Interesting, when we travel with the dogs they are allowed to sleep in bed with us and usually choose not to.
Once in a while, we’ll allow Bailey to sleep in the bed but always kind of regret it when he starts moving around and kicking at 2am. So nowadays we let him stay on the bed for a little bit before sleep time, upon which he goes into his crate downstairs 🙂 The kitties are always welcome on the bed though!
Three of the 4 sleep
On the bed. We have a king so there is lots of room. Ozzy sleeps right against me under the covers. Broo at the ebd. Mojo wherever he fits. I only get to live once and I lovey dogs. I will enjoy their company as much as possible. Bentley sleeps on the floor because he has bad manners lol
Jackal used to sleep in our bed, but when he got too big and was always kicking us and stealing the covers he got kicked out. Now he sleeps on his ottoman in the living room or in his dog bed next to our bed (switches out during the night which he prefers depending on how warm he is). After getting an off white colored dog bed and seeing how much nasty dirt it gets covered in I don’t know if I could ever go back to having a dog in bed with me…. even if I got a little dog. The bed turns brown in no time, especially in the winter when it’s muddy. Ick! I still let him on the couch (it’s covered with a sheet) with me sometimes if my feet are cold though hehe. 😀
Ours sleep in their crates in the living room unless my husband is away and then they stay in the bedroom with me to protect me from ax murderers. Dachshund and Beagle mixes being excellent security dogs and all.
Before I met my husband, my dachshund slept in the bed with me. And before him, my Dalmation usually slept in the bed with me (as she got older and couldn’t jump in the bed, I’d usually lift her and put her in bed with me). That just depended on if I was sleeping alone or my boyfriend was staying over though.
My cats? ALWAYS in the bed. ALWAYS.
Until I met my husband and moved in with him. Now there’s an embargo on ANY and ALL animals in the bedroom, cats included (which my 12 year old cat still doesn’t understand as he paws and meows pitifully on our door in the middle of the night). Unless he’s not home. In which case, it’s a free-for-all-every-animal-in-the-bed as long as I wash the sheets before he gets home. Then it’s 2 or 3 cats and 1 dachshund and 1 black lab mix and me on the 1″ of space they’ve left for me.
My corgi LOVES attention but HATES to cuddle (you pet my head or rub my belly ONLY silly hooman). So he sleeps on a dog bed in my room. The bed’s too high for him to jump up on, but on the occasion that my drunk ass decided I needed to put him in bed with me, he’s always gotten down later. The cat, on the other hand, LOVES to snuggle under the covers with me. I just count my blessings that she doesn’t sleep on my head.
Matt and I struggle with the same thing. Growing up we did not let our golden in the bed, but we did let our mini doxie (obviously ;)).
We never really talked about if we want Pinky in the bed or not, but she is a very, VERY needy dog. She has separation anxiety (like when you are in the bathroom, she is too). Maybe we shouldn’t feed into it, but it is just easier to allow her in the bed. What really irritates me though is it isn’t enough for her to be at the foot of the bed or on the side. She HAS to be a burrito between Matt and I. Even when we make her start somewhere else, she whines constantly and sometime in the night ends up between us. I love snuggin’ so I am not upset about it, but I would like to be next to Matt sometimes lol.
Yep! Both the Boxers are in the bed with us every night (yay for an Eastern King bed) and the little Min Pin spends about 50% of the night in the bed, and the other half in her own bed. 🙂
NEVER! But, he has a memory foam bed of his own that cost about as much as a human bed. :0)
we are pack! a dog at my feet or at my back helps me sleep. I can’t imagine it any other way.
growing up our dog never really came upstairs. parents said it was bc she was afraid of stairs, but they might have trainer her not to… haven’t had a dog since so can’t really tell you what i would do today. cats sleep on the bed tho 🙂
One of our four dogs sleeps in the bed with us. We actually had to get a bigger bed due to this. One sleeps on a bed in our room and the other 2 have dog beds not in our room. It’s a habit I wish we never started.
I have NO problem with dogs sleeping in bed with me… As long as their not jerks about it and they know when I say get down… It means get down. I didn’t have dogs sleep in bed with me until Chevy. But Chevy loves his crate just as much as he loves his bed. The whole reason to him sleeping in bed with me started when he was a puppy and the guy I had been dating turned out to be a complete a-hole and Chevy would curl up between us like a shield (sad I know). No he’s all I’ve got and as long as Mitch gets the pillow… Chevy gets to keep me warm at night <3
We have two that sleep with us every night. Sometimes both, sometimes just one. Plus two cats. I’m advocating for a king sized bed.
Oh no. I have a German Shepherd (whom I adore) but he is simply too hairy to be in the bed. Plus, he doesn’t shower daily and runs on a farm- so no dog in bed at my house.
No dogs of my own but whenever I doggy-sit (often) they know they get to sleep with Auntie 🙂 I absolutely love snuggling up with them at night, and look forward to doing so with my own pup one day. This may or may not be thanks to being the worlds soundest sleeper, so I have no idea what they’re actually doing all night anyways.
I have never had my own dog so this will probably change if/when I get one. I am hoping to keep future dog off furniture and beds – but we shall see. Nothing more effective than puppy eyes staring at you
Two dogs. One of them sleeps with us, the other one sleeps in a crate because she is not particularly reliable with the whole housetraining thing. Pee on my bed? No thank you…. the other one is great, though. Sleeps like a miniature silent log and will growl at you if you start to squish him at all. Pretty perfect.
I’ve had dogs in my bed since I was 9 years old! Couldn’t imagine it any other way 🙂
My husband and I swore when we got a dog, we would have a NO DOG ON THE BED rule. I don’t think it lasted even one week.
Jersey sleeps with us 6 months out of the year. In the warmer months, he sleeps on his own Queen-sized bed in the guest room. In the colder months, it is invasion of the body-heat snatchers, and he sleeps with us every night. He is 60 lbs of dead weight. I usually end up sleeping in some weird pretzel shape around him, with no covers.
On the plus side, he has virtually no coat and sheds very little and is very clean in general.
Dog and cat both sleep on the bed, which can get interesting, especially as they both tend to sleep right on top of me. The cat often wanders in and out, but is light enough that I don’t really notice. I actually think Arya might prefer to sleep in her own bed on the floor sometimes, or at least part of the night, but there’s not enough room in our bedroom for her bed (teeeeeeny apartment rooms).
Having the puppy share the bed is something of a peace of mind thing for us: she’s still just puppy-ish enough that she totally might sneak out of the room in the middle of the night and go destroy something. If she’s on the bed with us, we can leave the door open so we can get some heat in the bedroom, and tell immediately if she jumps down. Yay?
I love this post! My answer is yes and no. When he’s clean and hasn’t rolled in mud and eaten cat poop then he’s always welcome in my bed. However, if I hadn’t had a chance to give him a nice bath or brush after he’s been outside eating who knows what off the ground, then no, in his doggy bed he goes. Which is, in all fairness, right by the human bed.
When we adopted Ty (My GSD X) I was quite young and my parents were adamant that he not sleep on the bed or be on the furniture. He started “sneaking” into bed with me when he was about 5 or 6 years old. It isn’t his favorite thing in the world, to be honest…. he prefers to sleep on the floor.
However, with adopting Roxy (Terrier X), she started out on the floor as well and migrated to the bed. I don’t mind it too much but sometimes it does get in the way of “intimate” time, lol. Thankfully Roxy’s shedding is nonexistant but sharing a Queen sized bed with a floppy puppy and a boyfriend is a bit squishy. LOL
I’ve slept with my dogs since I was 7 years old and I wouldnt have it n=any other way! I’m super immune to the hair and I absolutely love the doggie warmth. Even with another person in the bed, my dog is THE best sleeper and just snuggles wherever he fits. Its awesome.
I am an absolute dog lover and have grown up with them my whole life. I started to develop allergies when I was around 8 though, and I’m actually somewhat allergic to dogs (and horses too, but I don’t let that stop me!) So I have never allowed dogs in my bed and when I was a kid they weren’t even allowed in my bedroom. Dog hair in my bed would make me pretty stuffy and itchy and at its very worst can trigger my asthma. My allergist actually told my family to get rid of be dog, but that was not an option for us. I’m convinced that allergists just don’t understand animal people. As long as the dog doesn’t get in my bed and I have mostly uncarpeted floors I do ok.
Now that I just have Q the jrt (jack russell terrorist), it’s a free for all on my bed.
She and the two indoor felines have designated blankets that go on top of my comforter, and get aired out and washed frequently. Q is an excellent snuggler and super possessive of her spot, so I do have to mediate occasionally.
One issue not resolved – no matter how we start out, by morning I have only ever have a sliver of bed left. The extra heat is much appreciated in the winter, as the Shimmy Shack is woefully under-heated. 😀
Before I was with my fiance I let Fudge (my pug) sleep in the bed with me every night. He asks to be let under the blankets, I lift them up, he goes under, turns around so his nose pokes out, and then cuddles pretty soundly the rest of the night. Shawn, however, is a very light sleeper so for a long time Fudge wasn’t even allowed in the room (no worries, he has full access of the house, with several dog beds and blankies). I hated excluding him from the night time ritual, but I got used to it and he did too. Luckily, Shawn has slowly started liking the nightly cuddle sessions (one drunken night he plopped a pleading Fudge onto the bed) and now Fudge is up with us more than he isn’t. I like it because he’s soft and warm to cuddle with, and I also think he likes it – which makes me happy. I don’t like that he lays between Shawn and I, and I did get used to the bed being a no-dog zone, but to me the pros outweigh the cons. 🙂
Simple answer is no. My husband really didn’t want animals in the bedroom. We have three indoor cats and one large lab mix. I would never want the dog in the bed with me. He spends a lot of time outdoors and always seems to stink of something. He does spend a lot of time indoors though.
The cats I kind of miss having in the bed. One of them in particular is snuggly and sweet. I don’t miss them meowing in my ear or running over me, going nuts at 3am. I’m perfectly fine keeping them out of the bedroom.
Our dogs sleep with us in bed. They get off if they overheat. They also have several dog beds of various materials/heat retention to choose from in our bedroom alone, plenty more in other rooms.
Fred sleeps under the covers next to me. But he hardly takes up any room!
My puppy sleeps in the bed and has since we brought her home but we just have one and she is less than 10 pounds and doesn’t get to play in the mud much.
I have been having this same debate. The little Frenchie can’t sleep in the room because she isn’t trustworthy. Then because she doesn’t sleep up there I would feel bad letting Sonny (Aussie) he’s not a very good sleeper when he’s not crater either. We have been debating if we’re even going to let the dogs on the second floor (where the rooms are). I would love for them both to sleep in the room but on the floor but I don’t see them actually sleeping. Maybe with age
We have a shih Tzu and he sleeps right at our feet! I like having him there and its nice to have him in bed with me if hubby is at work or away
Love my Golden and Dobie, but my bed is MY bed. They have their own very comfy beds. I’m such a light sleeper and my Dobie is too much of a cuddler. I love the crate. Dobie is excited to go in her “cave” each night and curls up like she’s in a kid’s fort. Golden does not like a crate so he just sleeps near her in a bed comfy dog bed with a bolster. I’m not a fan of dogs in my bed. But it’s a personal preference thing. Do what makes you happy.